Kevin Spacey's groping accuser granted extension to recover lost phone

A Massachusetts man accusing Kevin Spacey of groping him has been granted extra time to locate a cell phone defence lawyers plan to use as evidence to prove the actor's innocence.

The Usual Suspects star has pleaded not guilty to a felony count of indecent assault and battery relating to an alleged incident involving the 18-year-old son of former local news anchor Heather Unruh in a bar in Nantucket in July, 2016.

The accuser was recently ordered to hand over the phone used on the night of the reported encounter by the end of last week (14Jun19), so Spacey's lawyers could try to retrieve deleted text messages and other records for examination, in an effort to determine "whether lack of consent was fairly communicated" to the Oscar winner.

In the original filing in March (19), Spacey's lawyer Alan J. Jackson stated, "Additionally, text messages consistent with statements provided to law enforcement are likely to reveal that (the accuser) joked about the incident with friends for months after the incident and that his mother is the driving force behind these allegations."

However, the alleged victim and his parents failed to meet the court-appointed deadline, claiming they haven't seen the phone since December, 2017.

Their attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, subsequently requested an extension so they could recruit an expert to retrieve data backups of the personal device, and the motion was approved on Wednesday (19Jun19).

The judge has now given the accuser until 8 July (19) to provide the requested evidence, according to The Associated Press.